New oil leak...

[jstutz101]

I noticed an oil spot in the driveway today. Crawled under the car to find oil residue all around the oil pan. It looks like the gasket is leaking. The truck is a 2003 with 125,000 miles on it. I check the oil level, it was just a little low. Anyone else have a gasket just start leaking out of the blue like that?

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[chaz]

not on the 4r yet, but on other vec.'s over the years, sure. it may not be a bad gasket, sometimes the bolts loosen, try tightening em.

 

[gm350reratliff]

not on the 4r yet, but on other vec.'s over the years, sure. it may not be a bad gasket, sometimes the bolts loosen, try tightening em.

I will add to this. Don't just grab a ratchet and start cranking down on the bolts. Make sure you follow the factory torque specs and use a torque wrench. Your oil pan will leak a lot worse if you snap some bolt heads off.

 

[jow]

Good tips on the torque or a light feel procedures. I’m sure this will help if you have not checked them periodically. BUT! This was a need on the old cork gaskets vs neoprene in groves. The neoprene with metal to metal seated with no more to give is when you are likely to strip etc or break a bolt (w/o a good small torque wrench or feel). Do you know if the gasket is neoprene (most likely), cork OR Silicone? Anyway check the transmission’s bolts while you are under there.

Last, check for signs of high crankcase pressure that could cause a leak at the weakest point. Check the PCV valve for crude and sticking. Otherwise search for methods of checking for high crankcase pressure. If you have noticed any loss in power you might do a compression test to see if a cyl is loosing pressure that could cause high crankcase pressure. During the 70s when the PCV and EGR became popular, I world vent the oil filer cap to release the pressure. Possibly there is a gauge to at lease check it there now Or we used a dollar bill to see if it had the sight vacuum or pressure at the oil filler neck. Enough Old School because the new technology is probably different. jow

 

[jstutz101]

Thanks for the replies! I tightened the bolts ever so slightly, still leaking. I went ahead and ordered a new gasket from AutoZone for $12. Hopefully by Tuesday night I have it fixed.

:thanks:

 

[Will_4R]

I noticed an oil spot in the driveway today. Crawled under the car to find oil residue all around the oil pan. It looks like the gasket is leaking. The truck is a 2003 with 125,000 miles on it. I check the oil level, it was just a little low. Anyone else have a gasket just start leaking out of the blue like that?

Thanks!

Jeff

Yup, just replaced the front crank seal and one of the axle seals. Did a transmission seal a couple months ago and have had 3 of my CVs leak. 2003 with 100,000 miles.

 

[jow]

Looking at my 07 V6, the pan appears it would use a cork or cork neoprene combo flat vs neoprene in a grove. Check your manual etc to see if you need to ping the pan outward at bolt holes due to being distorted inward from tightening over the years. This is Old School but it might still apply to get a good seal. I am still surprised that pan gasket is leaking at that mileage. Has the engine ever been extremely hot or could this be from slow off-road conditions??

Pics I took while inspecting my new to me 07 V6 2WD with 43,000 mi appears this s/n be a bad job but I’m sure a 4WD is different. What oil filter and oil have you used over the years? Changing the oil and filter at 2,000 mi this week due to the 5,000/6mo to stay in the Ext Warr guidelines will be my task. Good luck! jow

 

[jstutz101]

Looking at my 07 V6, the pan appears it would use a cork or cork neoprene combo flat vs neoprene in a grove. Check your manual etc to see if you need to ping the pan outward at bolt holes due to being distorted inward from tightening over the years. This is Old School but it might still apply to get a good seal. I am still surprised that pan gasket is leaking at that mileage. Has the engine ever been extremely hot or could this be from slow off-road conditions??

Pics I took while inspecting my new to me 07 V6 2WD with 43,000 mi appears this s/n be a bad job but I’m sure a 4WD is different. What oil filter and oil have you used over the years? Changing the oil and filter at 2,000 mi this week due to the 5,000/6mo to stay in the Ext Warr guidelines will be my task. Good luck! jow

No, the engine hasnt been overheated and we dont do any offroading. I only use Toyota oil filers and change the oil every 5000 miles.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[sr5hi]

Thanks for the replies! I tightened the bolts ever so slightly, still leaking. I went ahead and ordered a new gasket from AutoZone for $12. Hopefully by Tuesday night I have it fixed.

:thanks:

Before you change the oil pan gasket, are you absolutely sure it is the oil pan that is leaking. The oil pan being at the bottom of the engine any oil leak from above may tend to collect in the oil pan area. I hate to see you go through the time and effort to change the oil pan gasket only to find that the oil is leaking from somewhere above. Check it out before you proceed.
Good Luck.

 

[jstutz101]

Before you change the oil pan gasket, are you absolutely sure it is the oil pan that is leaking. The oil pan being at the bottom of the engine any oil leak from above may tend to collect in the oil pan area. I hate to see you go through the time and effort to change the oil pan gasket only to find that the oil is leaking from somewhere above. Check it out before you proceed.
Good Luck.

Heres a rough picture of whats going on. The rear of the pan is wet, the front is not. The only other place I think oil could be coming from is that little platic cover just to the left and above the oil pan. Not sure what that is but its not made to seal oil.

Its amazing how much of a mess a little oil can make. When I'm driving it starts accumulating on the skid plate then it blows to the cross member then starts dripping on the driveway. When its parked it dosent leak at all. I checked the level and I'm estimating it to be only a quart low (just below the the top dot on the dipstick).

 

[jstutz101]

I think I found the leak and its NOT the pan gasket. I finally decided to remove that plastic cover near the oil pan and discovered oil inside. I started to car and climbed under to have a look. Sure enough oil is seeping around one of the two bolt heads.

I also notied theres a belt spinning in there. Im assuming this must be the oil pump. I am going to try and tighten the bolt but I have a bad feeling that isnt going to solve my ever more expensive problem.

Any suggetions??

 

[jow]

Good Catch sr5hi And Find 101 !! I doubt it’s an oil pump outside of the oil pan (or it will be a first for me to hear of or see). Please send a better shot of the part under the white cover showing the bolts that’s seeping. Plus, I’m sure you know by now what the part is and problem is.

Do you have a V8 or V6, 2WD or 4WD? I have a V6 2WD and c/n find a related part from a quick look.

BTW, I’ll purchase 2 Toyota oil filters from the Dealer today for peace of mind. Then purchase Castrol’s 5 W 20 oil for my oil and filter needs. Good Luck! jow

 

[jstutz101]

Good Catch sr5hi And Find 101 !! I doubt it’s an oil pump outside of the oil pan (or it will be a first for me to hear of or see). Please send a better shot of the part under the white cover showing the bolts that’s seeping. Plus, I’m sure you know by now what the part is and problem is.

Do you have a V8 or V6, 2WD or 4WD? I have a V6 2WD and c/n find a related part from a quick look.

BTW, I’ll purchase 2 Toyota oil filters from the Dealer today for peace of mind. Then purchase Castrol’s 5 W 20 oil for my oil and filter needs. Good Luck! jow

Its a 4wd v6. I finally conceded today that I'm not going to be able to fix this myself so I took the truck to a local independent shop. They had it for less then an hour and called with the bad news. I'm still not EXATLY sure what is wrong with it since I was in the middle of something else (stupid cell phones) but the gist of it is there is another oil pan called the "upper oil pan" that is apprently hard to get to that is leaking. They have to remove the front differential to replace it. Yea for me! Total damage is $860.00.

They are ordering parts today and plan on being done by Wednesday or Thursday. I going to be out of town till Sunday. I'll be sure to have a full report by Monday once I actually figure out what they replaced.

 

[jow]

I believe I saw that smaller drain pan with the oil drain plug that looked easy to get to through the skid etc. I said and saw that c/n be the oil pan on the block due to the small shape. This should b an interesting report. 1. Is the purpose of two pans a deeper sump to prevent starvation while climbing? 2. What was the leaking part behind the white plastic cover with belts? If anyone know of a link that will show these parts, Please Share!

BTW, my lower pan was wet (attached) when I inspected the T4R after purchasing (12/2010) the 07 V6 2WD. I slightly snugged the oil drain plug to solve that. I ordered 2 new crush washers/gaskets etc to add during this week’s oil change.
jow

 

[jstutz101]

I believe I saw that smaller drain pan with the oil drain plug that looked easy to get to through the skid etc. I said and saw that c/n be the oil pan on the block due to the small shape. This should b an interesting report. 1. Is the purpose of two pans a deeper sump to prevent starvation while climbing? 2. What was the leaking part behind the white plastic cover with belts? If anyone know of a link that will show these parts, Please Share!

BTW, my lower pan was wet (attached) when I inspected the T4R after purchasing (12/2010) the 07 V6 2WD. I slightly snugged the oil drain plug to solve that. I ordered 2 new crush washers/gaskets etc to add during this week’s oil change.
jow

It's a black plastic cover. When you pull it off is exposes 2 bolt heads the are holding the upper oil pan to the engine block. This is where my leak is happening. I'm not sure what causes the leak other then old age...

Heres a link to a diagram, the upper pan is #13

Conicelli Parts Center

 

[jstutz101]

Finally got the truck back yesterday. To make a long story short, I got the truck back Monday but it still leaked oil. The mechanic took it apart again and "re-sealed the oil pump." Im going to keep a close eye on it but it seems to be fixed.

Thanks for all the replies!!

Jeff

 

[santana]

Wanted to bump this because it seems that my 2005 4runner sport v6 with 150k miles ran into a similar issue. Did having the mechanic reseal the oil pump you described resolve the issue?

I also believed it could of been my oil pan gasket but after inspection that plastic cover just above was where the oil is coming from.

Picture attached below

album here

oil leak 2005 4runner oil pan gasket oil pump - Imgur

thanks in advance should anyone reply

 

[santana]

I started having a slow oil leak last July. I posted the trouble on here and got some good responses. I decided to take it to what I thought was a good local mechanic.

Fast forward to March 2012. What I ultimately figured out is if you start to have an oil leak around the lower oil pan, it's easy to fix yourself just make sure you replace the gasket! The mechanic I took it to resealed the lower pan using only RTV sealent. That seems to work for awhile but once it starts leaking it leaks a lot and of coarse its hard to tell that's where it coming from since the oil seems to leak everywhere. There was some debate whether it was the upper or lower oil pan. Thankfully it was the lower.

found this update from 101 in another post... I am slightly more confused now. I guess I will further inspect whats behind that plastic cover to determine which pan is leaking.

 

[santana]

Picture of those two bolts up inside the oil pan area

Hopefully these just need some tightening... They are very difficult to get to

Why is this designed like this ?!?!? :yell:

 

[jstutz101]

Picture of those two bolts up inside the oil pan area

Hopefully these just need some tightening... They are very difficult to get to

Why is this designed like this ?!?!? :yell:

Those two bolts are above the "upper oil pan." According to my mechanic at the time you have to drop the lower and upper oil pan to get to the leak. Which also involves dropping the front differential. No sure exactly what they did while they had it apart but it did stop leaking from that spot when they were done.

Like I posted previously, make sure they use a OEM gasket one lower oil pan or that will be your next leak.

Good Luck!